3 Essential Exercises: Maintaining Functional Fitness and Independence without Weights or Machines
I've grown awfully tired of fitness articles that tout the "Top 3" (or 5, or 10) ways to get fit, have a 6-pack, lose weight, etc. Therefore, I did not set out to come up with a list of the "best" exercises you can ever do, but rather, 3 exercises that can make a large and lasting impact on your overall fitness for years to come.
No, these exercises are not going to trim your thighs or flatten your stomach. But they will help you stand up straighter, which can change how flat your stomach looks, and they can help you achieve a fitness goal that is as elusive as 6 pack abs: Good posture.
"Every time you hear a bell ring, it means that some angel's just got his wings."
-Frances Goodrich, It's a Wonderful Life
Tucking Your Wings
Goal - Learn how to hold your shoulders in the position that puts the least amount of stress on them. It will reduce tension and increase strength throughout your shoulders.
Think of your shoulder blades as your wings. As you sit and stand you want your shoulder blades to be "anchored", like tucking your wings. To do this you pull your shoulder blades slightly down and together. This is opposite to the posture most people gravitate toward. Stress and tension tend to cause your shoulders to elevate toward your ears. And as you bend into your work or your walking stride you may also notice that your shoulders "round", over-stretching the muscles of your upper back. The more you're able to see your shoulders in your peripheral vision, the more rounded your posture.
This is not done to the extreme, so that you stick your chest out and hollow out a space between your shoulder blades. Instead, it is like opening and expanding your chest and positioning your shoulders directly beneath your ears.
It also helps to rotate the bones in your upper arms (the humerus) externally. For example, if your elbows point out to the sides as you steer your car or type on your computer you will also notice that your shoulders tend to be more rounded. A quick "fix" is to hang your arms at your sides, turn the points of your elbows to face behind you and your palms to face forward. Then, if you need to use your hands, bend your elbows until you reach your steering wheel, keyboard, etc and turn your hands over by rotating only at your elbows.
And since the quote for this section refers to ringing bells, try setting your watch to beep every 5 minutes. The bell will remind you of your wings.
"In punishment for lack of an interesting pirate name, Peter shall walk the plank."
-J.M. Barrie, Finding Neverland
The Plank
Goal - Learn how to engage the deep muscles of your core that stabilize your torso. These are more important to maintaining good posture, preventing back pain and, surprisingly, to having a flatter stomach than traditional crunches.
Crunches are the glitz and glamour exercise for working your core muscles. I'd wager you will never see a "Rocky" montage that includes the famous fighter doing a side plank. Crunches are dramatic, especially if you do them hanging upside down! But what it lacks in drama, the plank makes up for in effectiveness.
To be fair, there are actually 3 exercises here. A plank can be done face down (prone), on your side or, with some creativity, lying on your back (supine). The supine version isn't a true plank, but your core will never know the difference.
Prone elbow plank with alternating leg lift
- * Begin in pushup position, except with elbows and forearms on the floor, with body in a straight line from ankles to shoulders (plank position).
- * Lift one leg 4 - 6 inches off floor.
- * Return to start and repeat with other leg.
- * Alternate sides.
- * Muscles worked: lower back, abdominals, gluteals, hips, hamstrings
- * Easier: Elbow plank. Maintain plank position for set amount of time (i.e., 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 60 seconds).
- * Harder: Elbow plank with alternating leg lift and abduction. Perform as in default except, after lifting leg from the floor, also perform a side leg lift keeping your toes the same 4 - 6 inches from the floor and pointed straight down throughout the movement. Return leg to center and then to start position on the floor and repeat with other leg. Alternate sides.
Side plank
- * Begin lying on your side on the floor, propped on elbow, torso perpendicular to floor, shoulders square, legs and feet stacked one on top of the other.
- * Lift hips off floor until body is in straight line from ankles to hips to shoulders.
- * Return to start and repeat.
- * Muscles worked: oblique abdominals, upper back, shoulders
- * Easier: Side plank with both knees bent 90 degrees and resting on your stacked knees instead of your stacked feet.
- * Harder: Side plank plus lifting the top leg straight upward as high as possible without dropping your hips out of the plank position. Return top leg to starting position and repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Supine alternating leg extension
- * Begin lying on your back with both feet off the floor and hips and knees at 90 degree angle.
- * Keeping your low back in neutral position, extend one leg forward and up at approximately 45 degree angle (closer to floor is harder), SLOWLY.
- * Return to start and repeat on opposite side.
- * Alternate legs.
- * Muscles worked: abdominals, lower back, hips, quadriceps
- * Easier: Supine one leg extension. Perform as in default except with one foot on the floor, completing all reps with one leg and then repeating on other side.
- * Harder: Supine double leg extension. Perform as in default except extend both legs forward at once.
Face the Wall Squats
"Was I farther from your conscience standing face to the wall?"
-Faron Young, Face to the Wall
Goal - Standing up properly is an essential life skill. It's as simple as that. If you want to get out of your car, off the toilet or up from any low sitting position you need to master this skill. Plus, there is not a better exercise to help make you conscious of strengthening your thighs and buttocks.
You probably recognize squats as one of the fundamental lower body exercises. However, this version puts a brand new spin on it. The trick is that by standing nearly nose to nose with a wall you won't be able to let your knees go forward of your toes or get up by "throwing" your head and shoulders forward, as is common when your balance and leg/buttock strength is insufficient to allow you to stand correctly.
With that in mind, you will likely find that you're not able to squat as deep as you do in your "normal" squat until you adapt to the new form.
- * Begin standing with feet shoulder width apart about 4 - 6 inches from a wall.
- * Reach back with your hips and buttocks as if you are going to sit in a chair and simultaneously bend your knees and lean your torso slightly forward, keeping your chin up. Do not turn your head!
- * Lower to approximately a 60 - 90 degree bend at the knee. Or place a chair behind you and try to sit back until your buttocks touches the chair. Be sure that the chair will not skid away if you have to sit down to catch yourself.
- * Return to start by pressing through your entire foot, including the heel, and using your buttocks to generate most of the power. You will also feel it in your thighs. Repeat.
- * Muscles worked: quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals, hips, lower back
Read more articles and recipes
